• Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux recently announced their split after less than three years of marriage.
• An anonymous source told Entertainment Tonight that the couple's disagreements about where to live reportedly played a major part in their decision to break up.
• INSIDER spoke with two relationship experts about this "relationship deal-breaker"
  — and how everyday couples can address it, work through it, or prevent it altogether.

After seven years together — two of which were spent married — Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux announced their separation in a statement to the Associated Press. They claimed that the decision "was mutual and lovingly made," citing no concrete reason for the breakup.

An anonymous source, however, told Entertainment Tonight that distance may have triggered the end of their relationship. More specifically, the couple couldn't agree on where to live. While Aniston allegedly prefers Los Angeles, "[Theroux] much prefers being [in New York], and that's been a major issue for them for a long time,"the source told ET. 

The couple allegedly made numerous attempts to compromise, including buying an apartment together in the West Village.

"He really wanted her to be comfortable [in New York]. He even negotiated with the paps to make a deal that they would only shoot her once per day and then leave her alone. He also agreed to move out of his apartment, which he loves," the source said. "She just never really could get settled in, she wasn't happy."

Unrelenting paparazzi and disgruntled neighbors spurred Theroux to move to Los Angeles instead, but he never managed to adapt to the new city and constantly found reasons to return to the Big Apple.

Although the source stressed that Aniston and Theroux have always loved each other, it seems as though the fraught bicostal lifestyle took priority in their marriage.

Disagreements over where to live can be a "relationship deal-breaker."

"If Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux broke up because they couldn't agree between living in New York and living in Los Angeles, the reality is that their hometowns were more important to each of them than being together was," said April Masini, a dating expert who helms the popular relationship advice forum "Ask April."

Masini speculated that making and sticking to their compromises could have saved their marriage.

"In every successful relationship, people compromise," she said. "In this relationship, if geography was the deal breaker, it's because geography became more important than being together was, and ultimately it wasn't the distance that broke them up. It was the inability for one or both of them to be in the same place at the same time."

Masini added that there is no right or wrong way for a couple to barter and bargain, "as long as there is enough compromise to make the relationship work."

Resources play a major role in a couple's ability to make distance work — and it can be a double-edged sword.

Masini said that money tends to create options, which can eventually foster "relationship pressure that most of us without those resources don't have and can't understand."

On the other hand, when a couple has the luxury of flexible schedules and ample travel money, like Aniston and Theroux, compromise can be much easier. With a combined estimated net worth of $240 million, it certainly seems that this couple would be better equipped to handle a multiple-home situation than most.

Sameera Sullivan, matchmaker and CEO of Lasting Connections, told INSIDER that she is "99% sure the couple had other issues," because they were more than capable of seeing each other as often as possible — even while living on separate coasts.

"I'm sure they had other problems because you can always make it work. You can split your time evenly between two places, especially with the resources that they have," Sullivan said. "Financially, they're very well-off. So I don't think distance was necessarily the problem. It's not like either of them had to leave their jobs. With them, they can be very flexible and own two homes and spend time together on two different coasts. So I think it was a lot more than just the living situation."

Constant communication can help keep a couple's connection alive, despite distance.

In January, sources for both Us Weekly and People insisted that Aniston and Theroux's separate lifestyles actually help their relationship thrive. The couple simply "do their own thing a lot of the time," a source told Us Weekly. "They are both independent people and don't spend every minute together."

Aside from the obvious fact that, according to their statement, Aniston and Theroux had already split by the time those stories ran — Sullivan doesn't necessarily buy it.

"You get married so you can spend your life with your partner and share your life with them," she told INSIDER.

If distance is a temporary obstacle, Sullivan says that daily, meaningful communication can help a couple manage it.

"The most important thing is that before you go to sleep — if you're living in different cities and doing long-distance — talk to them on the phone at night. I think that keeps the relationship alive," she said. "Use FaceTime. Include the other person in your life. Throughout the day, if you're walking to work or something like that, take a picture. FaceTime them, say 'hi, I just wanted to see your face.' Keep in touch so that you both feel like you're a part of each other's lives."

Couples should discuss any geographical barriers before committing to a long-term relationship — especially marriage.

For two people that live in significantly different places, a "what should we do about our distance?" conversation is just as important as the classic "what are we?" conversation, according to Sullivan.

"When you're dating someone long distance and things start getting serious, and you feel like, 'oh my god, this is a great person, I'm really connected to them' — if you're having that conversation to be in a relationship, you need to talk about the distance," she told INSIDER. "Is one person going to move? Are they OK with moving? How's the job situation? Can they find a new job? Things like that."

Sullivan says that there's no hard-and-fast rule about when to tackle this issue — but if you can picture spending your life with another person, then these details are important.

"You can't just roll with the punches. If things are starting to get serious, you need to have a conversation about who can move if things progress. Being straightforward and honest with each other is a big piece of this working out," she said.

Although uprooting your life is generally unappealing for most people, ultimately, Sullivan believes that being physically with your partner is an important aspect of any long-term, healthy relationship. 

"I've seen people move across the country, I've seen people move out of the country to be with the people that they love," she said. "If you really care for someone, you'll move."

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